


Mirror mirror in my hand... Or not.

by Aknolan



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Baby Steven, Basically I love Lapis too much and changed a tiny thing to reduce the pain, Flashbacks, Fluff, Gen, It also seemed like a genuinely interesting concept so that's a plus, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-06
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 10:13:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 15,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7973125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aknolan/pseuds/Aknolan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sure, give the gem artifact to a baby, what could go wrong, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Breaking free

Why did she have to take care of little Steven? Oh right, Greg needed to work, Amethyst was not an option for obvious reasons and Garnet was on a mission. That left Pearl, she usually didn't mind, but usually Steven wouldn't cry quite this much. She's tried everything but it just didn't work. Perhaps she could distract him somehow. Pearl looked for something that would amuse a baby, eventually she found a mirror stored in her gem, maybe that would work. When she gave it to Steven he stopped crying, now distracted by whatever this was. He figured out that it moved when he did, most of the time at least. Every now and then, when Pearl wasn't watching, it would show something from earlier.

When Greg came to pick Steven up Pearl tried to take back the mirror, but when she did Steven immediately started crying. While she didn't particularly like Greg, the man shouldn't have to deal with a baby that wouldn't stop crying. Pearl weighed her options and decided that the mirror wasn't important or dangerous enough to justify taking it away from little Steven. He was holding it with a death grip now anyways and she was too tired to try getting it without accidentally hurting him, he had his mother's gem after all, and it came with a lot of strength so if Steven wanted to keep it... well, she wasn't that strong compared to his mother.

Greg went back to the place where he and Steven slept. He made some dinner for Steven and put him to bed. He too, was too tired to try and take the mirror from Steven. He didn't go to bed himself yet. After all, he himself hadn't had dinner yet, and with Steven in bed he finally had some peace and quiet. What he didn't notice was that there was water coming from everywhere, creating a pattern on the floor. What he did notice was the bright flash of light that followed.

Steven looked at the thing in his hand, with everyone gone it had become a lot more active. It wasn't just moving when he was anymore, it was moving all the time, showing Pearl and Greg who were nowhere near, or showing someone else, as small as himself with Black curly hair moving around. At some point Steven decided to see what was on the other side. It was some sort of stone, but it had pretty colours. Steven really wanted the stone so he pulled it out of the mirror with surprising strenght. The mirror shattered but the shards didn't come his way, so he wasn't hurt. He was sad about the mirror though, but he forgot all about that when the stone floated away from him and began to glow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an idea I've had for a bit and I wanted to write it down. I don't know how much I'll update. Let me know if you like it, or if there's anyone that read it in the first place. I will add more tags as the story continues


	2. Waking up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How to deal with a world you don't know?  
> How to deal with a woman suddenly appearing in a flash of light?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really didn't expect so many people to read it that soon after I posted the first chapter and I especially didn't expect anyone to give kudos so thank you, it really means a lot.

Suddenly she was out of the mirror. Suddenly she could form again. It had been so long that she'd forgotten what it felt like. It had been so long that she'd forgotten how to stand. She stood up and leaned against a wall for support. Who was she? She had to think for a moment, but if you soundlessly scream something for thousands of years, you wont forget. She was Lapis Lazuli, and she was free. 

She turned around just as a strange man ran into the room. He seemed to be looking for something when he noticed her. His expression turned into a combination of surprise, concern and fear. "W-who are you? How did you get in here?" he asked. Simple, harmless questions but Lapis didn't like being questioned. "Where am I?" "What? You're in my home! How can you not know that?" she ignored his question and instead looked around. Then she saw a little boy. The one that had freed her. She started walking towards him, but the man, who had seemed so afraid of her, jumped between her and the boy. "Stay away from my son!". It only occured to her then that this was the man that had taken the little baby with him, away from that gem. "Why was your son with that gem?" "You mean Pearl?" She could answer one question to get more answers right? It's not like he could do anything with it other than answering her question anyways. "Yes." "She was taking care of him while I couldn't." "But why would a gem, even one of those Crystal Gems, care about one human baby?" "He's not just a human, he's a gem too." That was strange. Why would anyone create a hybrid? How would that even work? Nobody who would be interested in creating a hybrid would use a kindergarten, but that means the only way was for a gem to give up their form, or else the child wouldn't have a gem or any of its powers. Who would do that? As much as she wanted to go home right now, her gem was cracked, so she'd have to figure out some other way than with her wings. In the meantime she wanted to know more about this hybrid, but that meant earning this human's trust. She came to a decision.

"I am Lapis Lazuli. I was trapped in the mirror Pearl gave to your son, but he freed me. I wont harm him, if that's what you're afraid of." It was true, she really wouldn't, even if he was somehow associated with the Crystal Gems. "How long were you in there?" The human asked, with obvious horror in his expression. If she was going to get anywhere with this she'd have to answer any questions this human might ask, if they were important that is. There were things she'd rather not talk about. "I don't know, I lost track." "Maybe we should go to the Crystal Gems, I'd rather not get involved in gem stuff." That was bad. She had to convince him to not tell the Crystal Gems. "But you had a child with a gem, he's going to get involved in it sooner or later, if you don't want to be involved in gem stuff, how will you stay involved in his life?" "Uhm... you bring up a good point there, but regardless, we really should go to the Gems, the-" "No! We're not going to _them_ they're the ones that kept me trapped in there, the can't know I'm out of the mirror. They'll put me right back in, or worse, they might kill me because the mirror didn't work!" That was a bad idea, now the human might be scared of her again. To try and limit the damage Lapis quickly turned her expression blank again.

Oh jeez. What had he gotten himself into? Was he really considering not telling the Gems? What reason did he have to trust her? For all he knew she might be trying to use him or Steven for her own plans, whatever those might be. But something about her just made her seem so honest. And besides, Greg was sure about the whole mirror thing, he had seen the mirror and the gem in it himself. He just hadn't known the gem was sentient. If anything she at least deserved a break from everything. It was because of that, that after a bit of thinking he said "Alright I wont tell the Gems if you don't cause any trouble, though I guess they'd notice if you did anyways." at this the blank expression on the Blue gem's face changed to one of relief. Then she spoke again "Thank you, though I want to ask one more thing, could I stay around here while I figure out a way back home? I'm really curious about your son, seeing as he's a hybrid. Don't worry about his safety, he saved me from the mirror, I'd do anything to protect him" Was this really a good idea? She might hurt Steven... but then, she's a gem so if she wanted to she could do so at any time. "I... guess so... Just be careful around Steven, he's just a baby, he's very fragile." "Is Steven his name?" "Yes." "I'll be careful"


	3. Humans and gems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg answers some questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took a bit longer because I was trying to get a bit of an idea where I was going to take this, when I wrote the first 2 chapters I didn't have a clear endgame in my head. Now it's a bit clearer. I also set up a writing blog on tumblr called "Aknolan writes" for the purpose of shameless self-advertisement.
> 
> If I'm going to be completely honest I'd have stopped writing after chapter 2 without you people reading it, but now I'm gonna finish it.

"Greg?" "Yes?" "What are you doing?" This was one of the things about Gems that would always amuse and frustrate Greg. They knew so much about so many things, except for the things that are common knowledge to humans. How could he even explain that he needed to change Steven's diaper when Lapis probably didn't even know anything about why humans need food? The only way he could think of was to explain the whole digestive system. He suspected this wouldn't be the only time he'd have to explain something like this to Lapis. It hadn't been all that different with the Crystal Gems either, there were many things they didn't understand, some of which they still don't understand. But for now, he'd just explain this part of the world.

~One explanation later~

That made sense, organic beings needed many things to stay alive and that they hadn't created a source of energy with just the things they needed yet wasn't surprising. So it was only logical that there'd be something left that had to get out somehow. It did, however, surprise her just how helpless new humans were. Even the hybrid. Though she guessed he must not have any of his mother's memories, or he'd probably be just like her, just in a really small body. Luckily for her that wasn't the case. Besides how terrifying it would be to have an adult mind in a baby's body, she also wouldn't be free if it weren't for little Steven. Wait, did she just think 'little Steven'? Sure he was small, but calling him little Steven sounded like she actually cared about the boy beyond the fact he'd saved her. Did she? No that's ridiculous. She can't get attached to anyone, she still has to get back home, she just has to figure out how. She'd been gone for a long time, a little longer wouldn't matter. Still, she desperately wanted to get back home, and if the Crystal Gems found out about her she'd also be pressured for time. With her cracked gem and no way to heal it she didn't know what she'd do in that situation. She just hoped it would never happen and tried not to think about it.

~~~~~~~~

Lapis was sitting beside the place where Steven always slept. She was using her hydrokinesis to distract him, creating blobs of water that she'd move around when Steven touched them. She told herself that this was so he wouldn't start crying, that this was easier than having to sit through his crying until Greg came to take care of it, that she was just bored. Of course it was interesting to see the way litt-... Steven played with it, but that was just curiosity. She wasn't getting attached to him, she was going to leave for home and that would be so much easier if she wasn't attached to anyone or anything. So that wouldn't happen. Not with Steven and not with Greg either.

"Oh hi there Lapis... Uhm... I have to go work now so I need to bring Steven to the Crystal Gems." "You don't have to do that, I can take care of him." She said this because she didn't trust the Crystal Gems, of course. She definitely didn't want to spend more time with Steven and she definitely didn't have a problem with the idea of being alone. "Well it's kind of a system we set up, if I suddenly didn't need their help anymore they'd get suspicious. And besides, I haven't explained everything you need to know for that yet." He had a point, the Crystal Gems weren't stupid. They'd notice and it wouldn't take long to figure out she'd escaped the mirror after that. She was still kind of disappointed though. "If you want I can set up a series so you can watch TV while I'm gone." "What's TV?"

~~~~~~~~

Greg had been kind of worried Lapis would break something, but once he saw how entranced she was with the TV he doubted she'd even move from that spot. He was holding little Steven and walking towards the temple. The Crystal Gems made sure that on days that they had to take care of little Steven, Garnet or Pearl would always be there. Everyone, including Amethyst, had agreed that Amethyst was too reckless to be alone with Steven. When he got to the temple only Pearl was there. "Hello Greg." As always, he noticed she was still very bitter about Rose, and he didn't blame her. He was kind of surprised she was even willing to take care of little Steven, as his whole existence reminded everyone of Rose. Really the only person who was different was Lapis, she didn't seem to know Rose personally, and as she wasn't a Crystal Gem she probably didn't have any positive feelings for her. Yet when she looked at Steven it really seemed that she only saw a hybrid boy. It seemed she actually cared about him too, from the way she hadn't moved far from Steven since appearing last night.

"Greg? Can you hear me?" She mostly sounded annoyed. "Oh yeah, sorry, I was just thinking about something, anyways, here's Steven." He handed little Steven to Pearl. "Do you have the mirror I gave Steven yesterday with you? It's a valuable gem artefact. It would be great to have it back." Oh. Of course. He couldn't tell her Steven had taken Lapis' gem out of it. So what _should_ he tell her? He had to make up an excuse, especially with her having noticed he zoned out earlier, she'd know something was wrong. "Oh uhh... I forgot about the mirror, sorry." That was bad. At least it would buy him some time. "I could come by and get it myself, do you at least know where it is? I don't want to have to search through one of your unorganized piles." Oh no, this was _really_ bad, quick Greg, think of something. "Don't worry I'll give it when I'm back to pick up Steven. It's a mess right now so I'm sure you wouldn't want to be there." She looked kind of suspicious, normally he would have taken any chance to be lazy, and Pearl knew that, but not this time. This time Lapis was there. "Well I'll see you later then." "Yes, until then Greg."


	4. The mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How to keep it a secret?

She'd been watching the series all day long, it was strange how humans had advanced in their technology so much in the past years, but they were using it to make sure they didn't get bored. It wasn't an efficient way to spend their time, but it did work if you had to stay inside, which she did. Maybe this wasn't such a miserable planet after all. No, she had to get home, that's what she should be thinking about. This planet didn't matter. It could never compare to Homeworld. But so far she couldn't think of anything that didn't include magically healing her gemstone, which was impossible, or to try stretching the ocean out into outer space. The second one probably wouldn't even work.

Thinking was kind of hard with her gem cracked, as she had to consciously keep her form together, and even then her form wasn't the way it was supposed to be. Her eyes looked like mirrors. Something that was only supposed to happen when she was using a mirror-like surface to show something. But with her cracked gem, changing her form to normal was too risky. She could easily lose control while changing it and end up with something even worse. No, this would have to do. Probably forever.

Because she had been deep in thought she hadn't noticed Greg come in. "Lapis?" She turned around and saw Greg, she immediately noticed something was wrong. He looked worried about something and he didn't have li-... Steven with him. "Is something wrong?" "Pearl wants the mirror back." Of course. Pearl would want to keep her close so nobody could try to save her. She'd thought that little-... Steven and Greg wouldn't be able to or think to free her. Greg wouldn't have any reason to anyways, he obviously hadn't known she was conscious. Pearl hadn't known however, that babies don't always need a reason for something. But Pearl wanted her back in there now. Wait... what if that was Greg's plan? Would he do that? No, he wouldn't, right? Was she trusting him too much? Why was she trusting him at all. He was just useful to cover for her with the Crystal Gems, she can't trust him. What if the Crystal Gems get angry at him for trying to protect her even this long though? Wait no, that doesn't matter. He's just useful to her, if he'd get in trouble that wouldn't matter for her, besides losing some help. Once he stops being useful she could just forget about him, right? Wait. The mirror. That's what this was about. "I'm not going back into the mirror." "Of course not, why would you think...? Nevermind. We need a plan. If I don't have a mirror with a gem in it when I pick up Steven she will go searching in here herself. I can't stop her." Right. How could she have forgotten. She should have been thinking about that, not watching TV. Stupid. How were they going to fix this? Wait, she wanted a mirror with a gem, but her gem was cracked. That meant the mirror didn't actually have to do its job. If the mirror didn't work, Pearl would just assume she'd finally given up and died. "We could make a fake mirror." "Right, Rose and I talked about how I'd need more money to take care of Steven so she gave me some ancient treasure. I should be able to buy a gem with that."

~A trip to a jewelry store and some crafting later~

" Well, it's finished. A mirror with a lapis lazuli gem in it." Lapis just looked at him with a blank expression, had he not noticed yet? It seemed pretty obvious to her that mirror eyes weren't exactly normal, though she guessed he'd probably seen weirder things. "My gem is cracked. We need to crack the gem in the mirror, or it wont work." He looked shocked and worried. Surely he wasn't worried they couldn't crack the gem, so then... what _was_ he worried about? Was he worried about her? No, that didn't matter. No need to wonder about it, it's not important. Home and safety is. "We need to make sure the crack is like mine." He seemed kind of uncomfortable about something. Did he know something she didn't? "Right... well let's crack this gem then." Greg got out some tools and asked Lapis to turn around so he could get the crack right. Soon they had a near perfect copy of what the mirror had been like. Too perfect for Lapis, she tried to focus on something else, but the memories came anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm going to cut it off there. I would be sorry if I had a heart :P
> 
> Okay I do have a heart, I'm just a sucker for stories where a chapter tells you something's gonna happen and then stops so you have to wait for the next one.


	5. Mirror gem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis goes down memory lane. She's having a hard time finding anything positive.

_Earth. Gems all around, busy with the colonization._

_Rebellion. Why were gems risking their lives, killing other gems? For this planet. For humans. For choosing their own path. Ridiculous, don't they care about other gems? This isn't worth it. This will only lead to devastation._

_War. A Bismuth, except she was one of the rebels. Wings being summoned, but it was no help. The Bismuth poofed her. A Homeworld gem found her. Safety. Wait. No. No. No. No! Please no! She wasn't a Crystal Gem! What were they doing?_

_The mirror._

_Interrogation. Questions she didn't know the answers to. Questions meant for a Crystal Gem. It was a misunderstanding. She couldn't tell them though. Less and less gems. The rebels were winning. Interrogations became more desperate. Should she be glad? This could mean freedom. No, the rebels don't care about other gems. They wouldn't even think to free her._

_Fleeing. But for what? They were at the Galaxy Warp. She was dropped. Perhaps for the better, if she'd been brought back to Homeworld she might have been shattered. Someone stepped on her gem. It cracked._

_Alone. She'd thought the interrogations were bad. This was worse. At least then there were other gems, and she'd known there was a chance to be free again. No one would come here. Alone. Freedom in sight but out of reach for eternity._

_I am Lapis Lazuli. I am Lapis Lazuli. I am Lapis Lazuli. I am... What if she'd been someone else? She'd still be free. No. I am Lapis Lazuli. I am Lapis Lazuli. What if I had been a rebel? No. Selfish. She'd probably be dead anyways. I am Lapis Lazuli._

_Someone. A gem, a Pearl? A Pearl. A rebel Pearl. She picks up the mirror and... stores it in her gem? What? This is her fault! She has to free me! She caused all this! She can't keep me trapped here! I am Lapis Lazuli and you can't keep me trapped here! You can't! You can't. You... can't... You... can..._

_Questions. Show me this... Show me that... Lapis obeyed. She didn't want to spend eternity stored in a gem. This was the only way to ever see anyone anymore. Any hope of freedom was gone anyways. What did it matter anymore if she obeyed some commands from a rebel? Sometimes she'd pretend not to know something. She wasn't going to give up all of her freedom. Never._

_I am Lapis Lazuli. I am Lapis Lazuli. I am Lapis Lazuli. She'd repeat that over and over to pass the time, and to remember. Thousands of years went by like that. Someday she would be able to scream those words at someone. Preferably the Pearl that hadn't helped her. She'd even made a speech of sorts. These thoughts would help her pass the time, but she didn't actually believe them. It was hopeless._

_A baby. Steven. She remembered then, that none of this was real. None of this was happening. She was already free. She hadn't screamed the words at anyone. Maybe that was better, if there was anyone around that she would scream them at, it would be someone she'd have to fight. She hated fighting. She didn't want to hurt anyone._

_Free. She was pulled out of the mirror. She went into her physical form. She was on her knees. Someone was shaking her._

~~~~~~~~

"Lapis? Lapis can you hear me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was kind of in trouble for time today, but I managed to finish this just before bed.
> 
> I tried to do something a little different here and I'd love to know if it's any good so please tell me.
> 
> As always, thanks for the support.


	6. Safety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg and Lapis don't have to deal with the fake mirror anymore.

"Lapis are you okay?" He was shaking her. They were on the ground. When had that happened? She just knew she'd gotten a terrible flashback. Tears were forming in her eyes, but she pushed them back using her control over water. During the flashback, it had felt like all of the thousands of years she was remembering, but being back in reality made that feeling fade away. It felt like it had been hundreds of years... decades... years... days... hours... it felt like a few minutes had passed. Still, it was no wonder Greg was worried. Zoning out for several minutes didn't happen without a reason. 

"I'm... fine." He looked relieved. Why was he so relieved? The only option she could think of was that he actually cared about her. Why would he though? She was broken, and that wasn't just about her gem. "What happened? You just fell on the ground all of a sudden and you weren't responding for a few minutes, is it something with your gem?" Even if it was, they couldn't fix that. Not that they could just 'fix' the actual cause either though. "No, it's just... the mirror brings up some bad memories." An understatement, of course. "Oh no of course, I'm so sorry I should have known. I should have just given the mirror to Pearl without showing you. This is my fault." Well... he had a point, but from the way he acted Lapis could tell he really hadn't thought about it, it's not like she'd thought about it herself either. Blaming him would be wrong, and while she really wanted to blame someone, he didn't deserve that. He was a good person.

"It's okay, you couldn't have known what would happen. I should have known." Stupid. Of course she hadn't thought about it, she hadn't thought about anything. If she had just been more careful back then she wouldn't have been put in the mirror in the first place. Really, the only people that were to blame were the Crystal Gems and herself.

"Why don't you go pick up Steven? Pearl is probably waiting for you." "Will you be okay here on your own?" "Yeah, just... go." She needed to be alone for a bit. "All right... I'll be back as soon as possible." Greg started towards the temple, taking the fake mirror with him. This time, he had a response for anything Pearl might ask.

~~~~~~~~

All three Crystal Gems were standing in front of the warp pad. Garnet was holding little Steven. They were waiting for Greg to come pick him up. He was very late. Greg was never late. Pearl had realized something might be going on, with how weird he'd been acting today. "It seemed like there was something he didn't want me to see, like he was afraid of what would happen if I'd gone searching for the mirror." Amethyst seemed to think for a moment before saying "Maybe he lost it and didn't want you to know?" Garnet seemed to be staring at nothing, but the gems knew that wasn't the case. She was using her future vision. "I can't say what's going to happen, it's blurry, there's too many options. But if it were important or dangerous, I'm sure Greg would tell us." Pearl wasn't so sure about that, but she'd always been kind of biased about Greg. So she realized Garnet was probably right. "I still think we should ask him about it, or at least ask why he's so late." They waited in silence for a while, until Greg came.

"Hey guys, I'm sorry I'm so late, I was having a hard time finding the mirror, but I got it." "Dude, you just need a system, like me." Pearl seemed annoyed at Amethyst for saying that. "As if, you still haven't found the sword that dropped into your room. Anyways, how'd you even lose it that badly, that quickly?" "Well, you know how it goes, Steven likes to hide his things so no one can take them from him." She didn't seem very convinced. "I don't, actually." "Uhm well, anyways, I have it now. Here you go." Greg gave the mirror to Pearl. She stored it in her gem. Garnet handed Steven to Greg. Before Greg could say goodbye however, she said "Greg, if there was anything important happening, you'd tell us, right?" "Of course I would." "Hmm... okay, goodbye then." "Goodbye." Greg turned around and left. Pretending to be oblivious of the suspicious looks he was getting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't really know what I wanted to do with this chapter, but I tried.
> 
> Thanks again for all the kudos and comments.


	7. Is there anything that's worth more?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mirror still haunts Lapis, but on the bright side, there's Steven!

Lapis was sitting on the ground. She was free, right? But then why couldn't she stop thinking about the mirror? Why was she still trapped on this planet? Why did she have to stay in here? Two of those, she knew the answer to. But the mirror... she shouldn't still have so much trouble with that. It was gone. Destroyed. Something kept reminding her though. _What if that hadn't happened?_ That doesn't matter. It did. It's over. _I could have done something, stopped it from happening. If only I had done something. Coward._ ...No... I... I couldn't have. There was nothing I could have done. I'm not a coward... _Then why couldn't you face that fake mirror?_ It's only been a day. I was in there for thousands of years. But she had a hard time convincing herself of anything. She knew she was right, but she still didn't believe it. Was it even a good reason? It explained the direct confrontation with the mirror, but not that she couldn't stop thinking about it. Why did she have to be like this?

~~~~~~~~

"Hey Lapis, I'm back and I've got Steven." "Hello Greg. I guess this means the Crystal Gems believed you about the mirror." "Yeah." He didn't want to worry her about how suspicious the Crystal Gems were, so he didn't mention it. For now he just wanted to get dinner. "Lapis, can you hold Steven? I need to get something to eat."

Steven. He was asking her to hold li-... Steven. Why did he trust her with that when not so long ago she hadn't even been able to keep herself off the ground, much less someone else? But he did trust her with it, and she didn't want to disappoint him. " Sure." Greg handed Steven to her. Somehow, it made her feel slightly better. Why was it making her feel better though? That didn't make sense. Greg went to make himself some dinner. Leaving Lapis alone with Steven, just like the night before, when litt-... Steven had pulled her out of the mirror. Both times he'd made her feel better about her situation. He was so happy about everything. How could he be like that? It amazed her, but his simple happiness made everything better, no matter what the reason was. _I care about him. I've gotten attached._ No I haven't. I haven't gotten attached to little Steven! I can't let myself... But all the same, she realized she couldn't deny it, she couldn't stop it. But that didn't mean she wasn't going to try. She'd have to leave for home when she finally figured out a way, so she had to try.

~~~~~~~~

Greg ate his dinner and then moved to get to Steven and Lapis, but something was holding him back from just walking in. He cracked the door open and peeked through. He saw Lapis holding little Steven, using her hydrokinesis to amuse him. She was smiling, for the first time in thousands of years. Greg decided to leave her be for now, she deserved this.

~~~~~~~~

Greg needed to go to sleep, and really it was way past little Steven's bedtime, but he hadn't wanted to interrupt on this little bit of happiness Lapis was having. It was, however, getting too late. He couldn't keep waiting forever. He had to sleep some time, and so did little Steven. He walked in to see Steven peacefully sleeping in Lapis' arms. Guess that was one part taken care of.

"Hey Lapis, are you... gonna stand there all night long for Steven to get some sleep or do you want to put him in his bed?" "Uhm... I guess he'd be better off in his... bed." She walked over to little Steven's bed. "This is his... bed, right?" Greg nodded as she put little Steven down very carefully. He thought for a moment before saying " What are you actually going to do all night long?" "I... don't know. I guess I'll just watch over Steven." "Hmm... I know gems don't need sleep but you seem very tired, maybe you could try it?" She thought for a moment. "I guess I could try. How does it work?" Luckily there were many places where someone could lie down comfortably. "Well you just lie down in a comfortable position, close your eyes and make sure you don't think about anything. When you're asleep you can get dreams, when you do your thoughts get all mixed up and you see weird things that aren't actually happening... actually now that I think about it that's an awful lot like hallucinating..." She looked kind of confused. "Well... I guess it wont harm to try." She did as Greg said and tried to sleep. Soon, Greg was asleep and Lapis was the only person left awake. She looked around and then sighed. Trying and failing would at least pass the time, and who knows, she might actually fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I can keep getting chapters out so fast, but I'll try. So far not a lot of time has passed in the story, but don't worry. It's going to pick up soon.
> 
> Thanks again for being interested in this.
> 
> Edit: just so you know, the next chapter is coming soon. It's later than normal due to me having a hard time writing it and everything around me making it impossible to think.


	8. Sweet dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis manages to sleep. Is sleeping a good idea? Maybe. Probably not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late, was having a hard time figuring out what I wanted to do with this, as usual thanks for the kudos.

When everyone was asleep she finally dared to close her eyes. Before she hadn't dared to do so, thinking it might be a trick. Of course she knew Greg wouldn't do that, but somehow there was a difference between knowing and believing. With her eyes closed she had nothing to focus on besides what she thought and what she felt. Only then did she realized that she was actually very tired. She really didn't want to open her eyes for some reason, even though having her eyes closed wasn't exactly beneficial. Well, if she didn't want to open them she guessed there must be some benefit.

It was strange that she, a gem, was tired. She guessed it was moreso her mind needing a break than anything else. Sleeping was definitely a way to get that break. She avoided negative thoughts, or any thoughts really. They would interfere with her attempt at sleeping. She was falling asleep, unable to stop it from happening, when she had a thought. _What will happen to my body without me consciously holding it together?_ Then she was asleep, and there was no room for thoughts, or at least not for sensible ones.

_She was standing on a hill. She heard a voice she recognized but couldn't quite place. She tried to remember. It was a voice from another time. A voice from back home. From all those years ago. She walked down the hill towards the voice. She found the source and suddenly she was back home. For so long she'd had no hope of ever seeing it again. She was overjoyed. It was just as she remembered it. But then she noticed something weird. Greg and Steven were here. Why were they here? Suddenly she was back at Greg's place. It was kind of cramped now that she thought about it. She decided to go outside. She was at Blue Diamond's court on Earth. Suddenly Blue Diamond picked her up and threw her towards the ocean._

_She summoned her wings and flew around above the ocean. Suddenly the rebel Pearl appeared except she was huge. She grabbed Lapis and threw her down into the ocean. Lapis fell through it and onto the Galaxy Warp. A crowd of gems was running towards her. No, to the warp pad. She tried to go too but suddenly couldn't move. There was a blinding light and when she could see again it was a warzone. A Bismuth appeared. She knew what was going to happen next._

"NO! STOP, PLEASE!" She opened her eyes. She was awake. Nothing weird was happening. Right? Why did her form feel so weird though? Wait a minute... Oh no. Of course her form would destabilize while she was sleeping. What was she thinking? She looked around to see if she'd woken anyone up. Apparently they were very heavy sleepers. She went outside just in case she would wake them up with trying to get back to her normal form.

She realized that she hadn't actually known where she was at all. She only ever saw the inside of Greg's place. She couldn't be seen by the Crystal Gems after all. Right now it was night so she figured it was safe enough. She looked around. She was on a beach. That was a good thing, the ocean would be a great help if something did happen. She hoped it wouldn't be necessary. There was a town by the ocean. Could the Crystal Gems be living there? Well, it didn't really matter, and she could ask Greg if she really wanted to.

She thought about her form, the one with mirror eyes was her most recent somewhat stable form, so she went for that. Probably the safest option. She focused on her form. After a few tries she managed to stabilize it, but being so focused on her form she hadn't noticed Greg had woken up. "Lapis? Are you okay? What are you doing out here?" "Sleeping wasn't my best idea considering my cracked gem. My form changed to something... inconvenient." He looked shocked and... guilty? This wasn't his fault. The only gems he'd known had probably never had their gems cracked, or they'd probably be dead by now. "Is everything alright? Do you need any help?" "I'm fine, thanks. Just a mistake on my part." "Well, we should probably get back inside now. This is risky." She suddenly didn't want to go inside. It was night, she couldn't do anything inside. Here she could at least see something that wasn't the same room she'd been in all that time. "I'd rather take that risk than have to spend the night alone in there, as sleeping is not an option. It shouldn't be that risky during the night anyways." "...Alright, I guess... Just be careful." He went back inside to continue sleeping.


	9. Earth traditions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some fluffy bonding for a change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having a bit of trouble finding time and ideas, turns out I am pretty bad at things that don't include characters feeling bad about something.
> 
> As always, thanks for all the kudos.

The sun was rising when Lapis decided it was getting too bright to stay outside, for risk of being seen. She went back inside silently to not wake anyone up. She sat there for a while, waiting for someone to wake up. A few hours later Greg finally woke up. All that sleeping humans needed cost so much time. Though she had to admit, considering how disastrous her attempt at it was between the nightmare and her form destabilizing, she did actually feel a bit more well rested.

"Good morning Lapis." What a strange phrase, how did he know if it was a good morning or not? He'd just woken up. Humans had such strange ways of saying things. "Hello Greg, are you going to bring Steven to the Crystal Gems again?" She just didn't want to be alone the whole time, that's why she asked. She didn't care about protecting this child from the Crystal Gems. Not at all. "No, it's the weekend so I don't have to go to work." Wait... week... end? So for some reason at the end of this week system they had created there was time where they didn't have to work? "How long do your weekends last?" "They're 2 days out of the 7 in a week." "That's a lot of free time. What do you do with all of it?" "...That's actually a good question. Mostly just whatever I feel like. Nowadays that always includes Steven." Always? "But wouldn't always being around a specific person get annoying?" "Usually yes. The thing with Steven is that he's my son, I love him." Love... it was a strange idea to her that he loved litt-... she couldn't really deny it to herself could she? She actually cared about the child. She didn't want to, but she knew she did. And now that she stopped denying it, she also understood Greg a little better. She didn't have a particular reason to care about little Steven, but she did. Besides, little Steven was basically a combination of his mom and dad. Little Steven was part Greg. That was a pretty good reason for Greg to care.

"So what would you do with him?" "Well normally I'd go look around in town for something to do." She felt a sinking feeling at that. She'd been alone almost all the time for so long, she didn't want that go continue. Whether she cared about them or not, she just wanted some company. "But with you here, I don't really want to leave you alone inside all day long." She was relieved, to say the least. "So then what are we going to do?" "I am going to introduce you to Earth music. Or maybe other Earth things like good TV series." She was curious, and maybe something would give her an idea on how to get home, so she decided to give it a try.

~~~~~~~~

She was surprised at how many different types of music Greg had in his home. Homeworld hadn't had this much variation in one place. Certain places were associated with certain types of music. This last one was a type she'd never even heard. The only reason she even knew it was music was because Greg had told her so. It must have shown that she didn't like it. "Don't worry, this music is something only a very specific group of people like, I figured you wouldn't like it." He then went on to a different song. He kept going like that for a while and she'd tell him what she thought of a specific song. Eventually he ran out of songs. They decided they'd move on to series. Specifically ones they could watch with little Steven. Lapis decided that some of these kids shows were actually kind of funny, and while most didn't really have a storyline, it was still amusing. Little Steven seemed to be enjoying it the most though. He was laughing at the strange things happening on screen the whole time, she didn't notice she was smiling at the sight of it, but Greg did. And once again he felt a pang of guilt, because he knew of a way to heal her gem, but he couldn't tell her because it was nearly impossible without help from the Crystal Gems. He was pretty sure Lapis wouldn't work together with them, if they even wanted to let her stay formed. He also knew that wouldn't stop her from trying, which would probably cause even more problems. That didn't make him feel less guilty for hiding it though.


	10. The calm...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some time goes by and Greg has an idea.

Lapis, Steven and Greg were sitting in front of the TV. It was the second day of Greg's weekend. Tomorrow Greg would have to go to work and Steven would have to go to the Crystal Gems. She'd have to get through 5 days like that before the next weekend, so Greg promised to show her some series she could watch, ones little Steven was too young for. He said those might be more interesting for her as they actually had a storyline. Of course she could just watch little Steven's shows, but he said they'd start to bore her sooner or later. She didn't pay a lot of attention most of the time anyways, she still needed a plan to get home and she was getting frustrated with herself.

Time went by, Greg had dinner, Lapis used her hydrokinesis to make tiny animals she remembered and keep little Steven happy. She figured the animals were probably extinct, she wasn't even sure all of them had lived on Earth in the first place. She knew she shouldn't be letting herself get attached to him, but after a few days of 0 ideas to get home she figured she might be stuck here for a while. Might as well make the best of it. She could have just ran off, she wouldn't risk discovery by the Crystal Gems as much, she wouldn't get attached, she wouldn't have to keep inside during the day. So why didn't she?

Going that night would have been easy enough, Greg probably would have told the Crystal Gems but she hadn't thought about that then. Maybe it was because she didn't know anything about this world anymore? Humans lived fast, thousands of years were a lot for them, so they'd probably try to get as much as possible done, as soon as possible. That was probably part of it. That just wasn't the whole reason though. She knew that another part of it was that even then she'd cared about little Steven, it wasn't that he, being a hybrid, was interesting, it was that he'd saved her. Even in the mirror she'd already liked him, he was so innocent, innocence was very rare. Gems were created as adults, their maturity fluctuated, some had very dangerous purposes, one mistake would mean disaster. They were very mature. Others, not so much. None, however, had actual innocence.

So yeah, she'd liked him while in the mirror, and she cared about him when he freed her. She didn't like admitting it to herself, or anyone else for that matter. Deep down she knew it though. Deep down she always knew when she was just in denial, she didn't want to think about that though, if she did, she wouldn't even be trying not to care, would she? Except, there was always a point where she'd decide to just stop denying it, because she knew it couldn't last.

Days passed with just watching series and going out at night, hoping nobody would see her. It was weekend again and Greg had agreed to stay inside with Lapis. He didn't really like the idea of her being alone this much though, so he came up with something. "Hey Lapis?" "What is it Greg?" "Do you think you could take care of Steven on your own once per week?" She was surprised, was he really asking her to take care of little Steven without being around himself? Did he trust her with that? She really didn't want to mess up, which was probably inevitable, but she kind of liked the idea of not being alone for 5 days. "Wont the Crystal Gems start suspecting something if they don't have to take care of Steven?" "Don't worry about that, I'll say I got a babysitter for one day of the week so they could do their gem things, they might even be glad, Steven reminds them too much of..." He seemed to be struggling to say something, and when he did it was a whisper. "Rose..." It took a moment for Lapis to realize this must be Steven's mother, this meant that as she had thought someone had to give up their life for Steven to exist. She pretended not to notice. "Well, it'll still increase the risk of them finding out, but I would like to try it." Greg's expression became slightly brighter at that and Lapis felt a hint of something she couldn't describe. Or maybe she didn't want to, because of what it meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't noticed yet, these types of chapters aren't my strong points, so they take a bit longer to write.


	11. before...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some more time goes by, Pearl is back. Things go wrong.

"Oh, you found a babysitter?" Pearl hadn't expected this. She also hadn't expected to feel... sad. Little Steven reminded her of Rose and he was quite annoying, but somehow she actually cared about the little boy. This meant less time with him. It was also quite odd that Greg had looked for a babysitter. It didn't make sense, Pearl was just fine as a babysitter, so why have a different one for that one day of the week? And in the middle of it at that. If it was to make going on missions easier for her, he should have done it at the beginning or the end. Somehow she thought it wasn't because Greg wanted a babysitter, but because someone wanted to take care of little Steven. But that was ridiculous, everyone she could think of had other things to do.

She realized she'd zoned out on Greg's explanation. Not wanting to seem rude, she didn't ask for him to repeat it. She wasn't really going to believe his explanation anyways, as he'd probably made it up. Probably something about taking strain off of her. "So yeah, that's why I have a babysitter for wednesdays now." He seemed incredibly nervous about something. Pearl knew something was going on, but pushing him for it wouldn't help. Not right now. They said goodbye and Greg left.

~~~~~~~~

Greg had just left with little Steven and Pearl didn't know what to do, Greg was definitely hiding something. She needed to find out what, but he'd deny it. She sighed. Maybe... no. She was her own gem, asking Rose for advice is one thing, asking a mirror to show a memory of Rose? Pearl was better than that. She'd find out herself.

~~~~~~~~

"And that's everything you need to know to take care of little Steven." "Alright, I think I can do this." She had to admit it was a lot to take in though. "Are you sure you'll be fine? I don't want to come back to you lying on the ground because Steven was being difficult. I know how tiring he can be." "Greg I am a gem, I don't even need to sleep, I'm sure I'll be able to deal with this without getting exhausted." That was partially true, she didn't need sleep but she still got tired every now and then. Not something Greg needed to know, she would be fine. If she told him he'd only worry. She unconsciously smiled a little at that. If she'd noticed she'd have hidden it, pretended it was just because his silliness was funny. Caring about the person who saved her is one thing, caring about Greg? No. She wouldn't.

"Well, I guess I'll be going now. Don't want to be late for work... You'll really be fine?" "Of course I will, or are you just having second thoughts about letting me do this?" she joked. She made a joke... she hadn't been able to for so long. She put on a smile to make sure he knew it was a joke. She didn't want him to take it wrong. "No, of course not, I know you'll be fine." he sighed. "Well, I really have to go now. Bye Lapis. Bye Steven." "Bye." 

That day was the best day Lapis had had in thousands of years. She got to spend a day with the one person she cared about. As nice as Greg was, being around him was tiring. Probably because she was trying not to care about him. With little Steven she didn't worry about that. She knew she should, but she didn't.

~~~~~~~~

It was weekend, she wouldn't have to take care of Steven and the other gems had been on a mission since friday morning. This gave her time to think. Too much. She needed to know what was going on with Greg, the other gems were ignoring it but she knew something was going on. She just didn't know what to do.

~~~~~~~~

It was tuesday, she wanted to see who the babysitter was. Maybe that would help. Was this important enough to disregard privacy for? She didn't know. The other gems were still gone, they'd probably get back sometime tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~ Wednesday, should she go? She should. But maybe not. This might go wrong. She had to decide. Perhaps... yes, she'd have to use the mirror. Not something she liked, but there was no choice. Rose always reminded her to make her own decisions. She took the mirror out of her gem. She hesitated for one last moment before saying "Show me Rose." She waited for a few moments, sometimes the mirror would take a bit to do what she asked, or it would show her a flower. Strange how this nearly broken gem-powered mirror almost seemed like a person trying to rebel in little ways. It was taking kind of long. Too long. Wait, didn't the strangeness in Greg's behaviour start when she gave the mirror to Steven? Maybe he broke it and thought she'd get mad? It was bound to break sooner or later anyways. She looked at the mirror very closely. It was a good copy, but it was different... _the gem_ was different. Where did the actual gem go? Surely it hadn't just disappeared? Wait... Greg was acting weird, didn't want her near his home and suddenly had a babysitter? The mirror also seemed a bit like a person, now that she thought about it, it always had. Suddenly her form grew cold. It couldn't be. No. Please no. That can't be true. She refused to believe it without actually seeing it. She had to see this new babysitter. Now.

~~~~~~~~

She was giving little Steven a drink, Greg said he needed it to live and it had to be very specific. It was kind of a hassle but she enjoyed it for some reason. These simple tasks were calming. She heard a sound outside, someone was walking towards the door. It sounded slightly different from Greg somehow. The door opened and someone walked inside. Lapis turned around, holding Steven. Then she saw the other person, and where before there was calm, now there was surprise and anger. The surprise faded away, and all that was left was fury at the person standing there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made this one a little longer than usual, I'm trying to write longer chapters and with this one I wanted to start somewhere and end somewhere so this is what happened.
> 
> Thanks for being interested in this story, I probably wouldn't be writing this without the interest.


	12. the storm.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pearl and Lapis meeting probably isn't a good thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little tired so if something doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I really wanted to get this chapter out as fast as possible.

"You... you knew I was in there, and you didn't do _anything_." As she said this Lapis was gathering water from everywhere. She tried to look as intimidating as possible, but it was hard while holding little Steven. "Did you even wonder who I used to be!" While she said the last bit a giant water hand bursted through the door and grabbed Pearl. She threw Pearl outside and walked out of the door, still holding little Steven. "I am Lapis Lazuli, and you can't keep me trapped here anymore!" Just the way she wanted to say it for all those years trapped in the mirror.

When she said it she didn't feel the satisfaction she expected though. She'd wanted to get revenge on the Crystal Gems for so long, now at least she'd had a chance to yell at one of them. It didn't help. Not one bit. All she felt was the fury of thousands of years spent trapped. No relief, no satisfaction, no anything. Just the fury and the desire to go home. Maybe revenge wouldn't be worth it. She shouldn't waste time on this. She should use plan B. The ocean.

Now that the Pearl had found her the other Crystal Gems would know about her soon. She wouldn't have time to think of a plan, they'd hunt her down. With no more time to think of something else, she walked into the ocean. Little Steven still in her arms. She only just noticed he was still there but didn't want to go back, considering the Pearl. When the Crystal Gems went looking for the ocean, which she guessed they would, Greg would definitely want to come along. She just had to keep little Steven alive until then. She couldn't take him to Homeworld because he needed air.

~~~~~~~~

No. No no no no no. This can't be. This is not happening. She had just hallucinated the whole thing. It was a manifestation of her fears. Not real. Not at all. It can't be. When she'd walk inside there would just be some _human_ babysitter. Feeding little Steven a bottle. That's how it's supposed to be. If she just focused on that, maybe she could forget that the last of Rose was gone because of her. If she'd been less curious, if she hadn't wanted to prove herself so badly... 

No. The others needed to know about this. She looked inside, just a tiny spark of hope remaining. That spark of hope was snuffed out when she saw nobody inside. Rather than thinking about what happened too much, she turned around and started walking towards the carwash, silent tears running down her face.

~~~~~~~~

"Greg." It came out as a broken sob. Greg turned around with a worried look on his face, which somehow became even more worried when he saw her face and the tears on it. "Pearl? Are you okay?" She struggled to get any words out "Greg it's... Steven is... a blue gem... why didn't you tell us Greg? Now she's... and Steven..." Why couldn't she say it? She felt a lump in her throat but that shouldn't be able to stop her from saying this. This was important. "You found Lapis?! Oh no... what did she do? Did she take Steven?" All Pearl could do was nod weakly. "We have to go tell the others." He heard Pearl say something, barely audible. "They'll be coming back later today." "We'll just have to wait for them then."

~~~~~~~~

" What did you do?!" Suddenly Greg was very glad Garnet wore those glasses, no doubt she'd be very terrifying without them. Really, she already was. "I Let her stay. She'd just gotten out of a very long imprisonment in that mirror you guys had, what's the deal with that anyways?" Pearl had calmed down enough to be able to talk by now. "We found it at the galaxy warp. We didn't know..." "You should've told us. We would have been able to deal with her." "Yeah! Would've been nice to get to punch someone!" Of course Amethyst wanted to punch Lapis, that's the whole reason he didn't tell them. "Why do you think I didn't tell you? Didn't you hear Pearl? Does giant water hand ring a bell?" He tried to act confident, if they were going to get anywhere with this he'd have to get it into their heads that this was the best thing to do somehow, no matter how terrified he was that they'd do something stupid out of anger. They hadn't really been the best at anger control since Rose passed, and they definitely wouldn't be right now until they realized Greg wasn't at fault. At least they seemed to consider it. Eventually Garnet spoke. "We don't know how powerful she is, which is why you should have told us. With a surprise attack it wouldn't have been a problem." Greg could barely believe this. " You were going to attack her? Seriously? After all she's been through?" "Greg, she's a threat. We have to make sure she doesn't harm anyone." "She wasn't harming anyone until Pearl showed up and now she's taken Steven with her! Obviously my way was going great with making sure she didn't harm anyone until you guys came along!"

Garnet sighed. "Fine, let's say your way is right, we don't have time for this. We need to find Steven." Greg knew she just didn't want to talk about it, but it was better than her anger. Definitely an improvement. Finally Pearl spoke "So Greg, do you have any idea where she could have gone?" "I... I don't." He looked defeated. "Well that's okay, we have to stay optimistic, right?" She then whispered "Garnet? Amethyst? Someone help me out here?" Garnet seemed to make a decision. "Alright Greg, we're going to find him. We will look at the gem locations, you go look around town, look on the beach too." Everyone went to their tasks, and while the actions weren't much different from normal, something had changed. A faster pace, a slight slouch. You had to pay attention to notice, but it was there.

~~~~~~~~

Greg had looked everywhere before going to sleep last night. He had had a hard time falling asleep too. The next morning he was really tired, but he got up early to do another round through the town, he didn't really expect to find anything about Lapis or little Steven, but then again, he hadn't expected to find the ocean was missing either.


	13. Ocean gem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis has the ocean and Steven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up.

He was kind of relieved because they had a lead on Lapis now, a chance to find Steven. Everyone had basically gone into panic mode. He also felt kind of guilty for being relieved about the _ocean_ having been _stolen_. That wasn't going to end well.

He was sitting by the warp pad, waiting for one of the gems to return from a search. He had no way of contacting them, he wasn't even sure if it was possible to contact the gems while they were away. So he waited. It took a while but eventually Garnet appeared on the warp pad. "Greg, did you find anything?" "The ocean is gone. Lapis must have taken it." Garnet didn't react for a moment. She'd been like that since Rose died. Hiding her emotions. "We have to get the others." She walked into the temple. Unsure what was going on, Greg decided to just wait. It didn't take long for Garnet to come back with a whistle. Greg was confused but decided she probably wouldn't explain anyways.

Garnet blew on the whistle and within seconds a beam of light appeared. Pearl stepped off the warp pad just as a new beam of light appeared. Amethyst said "What happened? Did you find something?" "Greg noticed the ocean was gone." Both Pearl and Amethyst were very surprised. Pearl recovered quickly though. "Well then, let's go find it. Wherever the ocean is, Lapis must be."

So they went on a journey over the ocean floor, all inside Greg's van. The ocean floor was beatiful, there was coral everywhere, still intact. There were no fish, apparently Lapis had kept those alive wherever she might be keeping the ocean. Sometimes there'd be a sudden drop or a giant wall. In those cases Garnet would get out of the van and carry it, making sure the van stayed intact. They were often driving downhill, very rarely uphill. They weren't sure when they'd see whatever Lapis had done or where it would be, but their best bet was the middle of where the ocean used to be. 

Eventually they saw a tower of sorts in the distance. It was still a long drive after that but eventually they got there. To say that Greg was in awe would be an understatement. The gems had seen some weird things in their long lives, but Greg had always had a normal life until Rose. What was in front of him was a giant pillar of water, reaching up through the clouds. Above that it probably reached further still. There were huge fish swimming in the pillar, sometimes one would go towards the edge but it would bounce back into the tower. "Guys, I just had the best idea for an album cover."

Everyone got out of the van and looked at the tower. Garnet was the first to speak. "Greg, I think it would be best if you talk to her. She likes you." "Right... that's the best way to go about this." Greg hesitantly walked up to the tower. He cleared his throat and yelled "Lapis? Can you hear me?" Suddenly the water changed shape and Lapis' face appeared in the water tower. "You're here for Steven, right?" "Well yeah but also-" "I've got Steven here, he's safe. I'll give him back to you." Well that was easy. Suddenly Lapis noticed the gems. "What are they doing here?" She was angry, that much was certain. "They're here to help me get Steven back home safely." Suddenly Garnet spoke "And we want the ocean back." That didn't seem to help. For some reason Lapis really wanted the ocean. "I don't want you Crystal Gems here. Leave me alone!" Greg tried to talk to her but she ignored him. Suddenly water clones of the Crystal Gems walked out of the tower and Lapis' face disappeared. This was bad. Really bad.

Garnet tried to tell the other gems something but was interrupted by her water clone hitting her. Greg couldn't do anything. He watched and saw all of the gems losing their battles. There was no way this would end well, but so far Lapis wasn't actually poofing the gems. Maybe he could still talk some sense into her. "Lapis please, can we talk about this? Just me and you. I know you don't want to hurt anyone." He kept talking to her until eventually he'd either convinced her or annoyed her to the point where she figured talking was easier. "Fine. Come up the tower." "Okay but I need air so we can't be too high up." With that he walked into the tower. A hand solidified under his feet and every now and then he'd poke his head out to breathe until eventually he was on a plateau somewhere on the tower. There he saw Lapis and little Steven.


	14. So close, yet so far

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis and Greg are on the ocean tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long, I've been busy and tired.
> 
> Edit: I just realized I messed up the publication date so I'll change it now, the date is a few days later than I actually updated it because I have no idea how time works.

"Greg, I assume you're here for Steven." "Yeah, but that's not all. You stole the ocean." Greg calmly spoke. He wasn't calm, he was afraid, but he wouldn't let that show. He cared about Lapis, but she was being really dangerous. "I am borrowing it." "But why?" Lapis didn't seem to care at all. Like she didn't know how important the ocean was. "I am trying to get home... If I can just stretch it far enough..." She wasn't thinking rationally, was she? "And you think that would work?" He asked increduously. She sighed. "I know it wont, but I have to try. I wouldn't have to use the ocean of my gem wasn't cracked." What? And Greg thought Rose was powerful... This was insane, with a healed gem Lapis could go through space to her home? What else could she do? Why did the gems think they had even the slightest chance of defeating her? Suddenly he thought of something, everyone could have what they wanted. They just had to go to Rose's shrine. "I think I know a way to heal your gem." "What? You do?"

~~~~~~~~

Greg got out of the tower again with little Steven in his arms. Lapis agreed that if he found a way to heal her gem without being near the Crystal Gems she'd slowly put the ocean back where it belonged and leave to Homeworld. Now he just had to get the Crystal Gems to agree. Oh boy. "So there's a way to solve this, basically we heal Lapis' gem and she leaves to Homeworld. Except you guys can't come near her." Garnet didn't even think about it. "No." "What? Why not?" "Homeworld can't know we're alive. We can't trust her to keep that a secret." Greg was getting annoyed, couldn't she see they didn't have a choice? "She has the ocean. I don't think we get to choose. Come on, even if she does tell, it'll take years. That's a lot longer than it would take for Earth's ecosystem to be ruined to the point that everyone dies." The gems looked like they were trying to come up with a counter-argument but couldn't. Eventually Garnet gave in. "Fine, we can get some of it in a bottle. That should work."

~~~~~~~~

Greg had asked Lapis to begin putting the ocean back slowly when they'd been gone for a few days. He went to the fountain with the Crystal Gems to ease Lapis' mind about the healing tears. When they'd gotten it and the ocean was back in place he'd meet her on the beach and heal her. They'd hired an _actual_ babysitter to take care of little Steven while they were at the fountain.

They stepped off the warp pad and started walking towards the statue. It was starting to get overgrown from the plants Rose wasn't there to take care of anymore. None of them really wanted to spend a lot of time here, it hurt too much. Still they couldn't move for a moment when they saw the statue. The thorns hadn't grown over the statue, making it easy to see. For a moment, Greg could actually see Rose as she had been. In shades of pink and alive, rather than the statue in front of him. He got tears in his eyes. There was water flowing from the eyes of the statue too. Not as much as there should have been, but the difference wasn't really noticeable. The gems had tears in their eyes too, as far as Greg could see. Finally able to move he slowly walked forward. When he got to the water he knelt down and scooped some water into the bottle. He stood up and cast one more glance at the statue before walking towards the warp pad. The gems followed his lead after a few seconds. When they got back everyone was still silent, they all went about their own business silently. Greg walked towards the beach to see that somewhere near the horizon he could actually see a speck of blue. It would take a while, but that was a good thing.

~~~~~~~~

It was evening and Greg was sitting outside his house. Little Steven was sleeping. He was looking out over the ocean when suddenly it split open and Lapis walked towards him. "Hey Lapis, I guess you put the ocean back?" "Yes, so can you heal me now? Is there anything I should do?" Greg grabbed the bottle of healing tears and stood up. "Just turn around so I can pour the water over your gem." She seemed confused at this but turned around anyways. Greg poured the water over her gem. Suddenly the gemstone started glowing brightly and a pair of wings made out of water appeared. Lapis turned around again. "Thank you Greg!" He was mesmerised by her wings with the starlight shining through them, so he gave the only answer he could think of. "No prob, Bob." She stared at him blankly. "It's Lapis. I'd have thought you knew that by now." "It's a human joke... I know your name is Lapis." "Oh... Well, goodbye Greg." "Goodbye." And with that she flew off. It didn't take long for her to be out of sight. Greg sighed and went to bed. His last thought was that maybe Lapis had been right, and he should stay involved in little Steven's life as much as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't the end of the story, there's going to be a few more chapters.


	15. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis is back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long, between my new obsession about Carmilla and having to go to a movie I didn't have a lot of time.

Home. That's where she was going. She already saw it, just had to go a little further. Suddenly there was a ship in front of her. They must've seen her. Perhaps they'd give her a lift the rest of the way home. They opened a door. She went inside and the door closed behind her. The airlock activated so she could walk inside.

Inside were 5 rubies. All had different gem placements. One of them, who seemed to be the leader, said "Stay right there, and don't move!" Not the welcome she had hoped for, but that was okay. At least she was home. The ship flew to Homeworld. She was so happy to be back, except it wasn't how she remembered it. Everything seemed much more... orderly. Stiff. Rigid. The beauty was gone and replaced by efficiency. But it was still Homeworld. With a bit of luck there would be places that were still the same. Maybe even gems she knew personally.

Then she noticed where she was. A gem prison. Except walls were no longer solid they were... yellow? How was that going to keep people inside? "Please wait in here while we get someone to deal with you." Wait... No. No no no no no. Not a cell. "No! I won't be a prisoner! Not again! Please don't do this to me!" The Ruby leader looked at her like she was a crazed animal. "It won't be long. It'll be worse if you resist." Except Lapis was beyond reason already. She wouldn't go into a cell. Not again. She fell on her knees with her head in her hands. She didn't notice when the Rubies physically threw her into the cell. She only noticed much later when she was alone and saw the yellow screen. She tried to touch it but it hurt so much that she decided against trying that again. Not knowing what to do she sat down and wondered what she had done to deserve this.


	16. Adapting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 6000 years is a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You really realize how little we know of Homeworld when trying to write about it without straying from canon. Needless to say, I've made some assumptions which make sense to me. It'll be vague.

A prisoner. Again. And all she could do was wait. Again. She would be questioned. Again. But this time she was home. This time wouldn't be as bad. And at least they'd given her a cell with a window. She looked outside, maybe the window wasn't as good to have as she thought. Everything she knew and loved about Homeworld was gone. It used to be so beautiful, but everything was stiff and rigid now. Order seemed to be the only thing that mattered.

She tried to find anything she recognized from the past. Nothing. Everything she knew was gone. Who's to say anyone she knew would still be alive? Everything else was replaced by the most efficiënt possible option, it seemed. If she was going to survive, she'd have to fit in. But what would a Lapis Lazuli do in this new Homeworld? Could she even call this her home anymore?

After a time that would have been called weeks on Earth, someone came to talk with her. Because of the trouble she'd made earlier they didn't want to let her out of the cell. "You're unregistered. We've had this system for 5000 years now, how come you, an unregistered gem, appears out of nowhere, without a ship?" Questions. Again. Always questions. She knew they would come though. She knew she'd have to answer them. This was her home, right? These were her people... She had to make sure they trusted her. She'd prepared her story, it was time to tell it.


	17. Storyteller

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's storytime. Except Lapis is leaving some things out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School is extremely busy so I'll be very slow.  
> This is also probably very different from what we'll get if canon ever shows us anything about Lapis returning to Homeworld.

"It was thousands of years ago, I was on Earth during the war." The other gem looked confused. "Wait. What War?" Lapis looked at the other gem with an expression best explained as 'are you serious?'. "How old are you?" "I'm the one asking questions here. Explain this war." Lapis reconsidered. Maybe she didn't have to explain as much. "Well there was some fighting. Some gems rebelled." That was terrible from the start and should never happen again. But how could she do this without making people go back to Earth? 

"They captured me and put me in a mirror. They never had much of a chance of course. Eventually they were defeated and all ways back home were destroyed. Everyone left. I was still stuck in the mirror." The other gem was more and more confused. "Why did they leave? And why don't I know about this rebellion?" Well those were definitely good questions. "I don't know and I guess they didn't think the Earth rebellion was important enough." That seemed to satisfy her. 

"So how did you get back?" Lapis stared at her blankly for a moment and then summoned her wings. The other gem looked annoyed. "I'm assuming you couldn't sprout your wings and fly away while in a mirror. How did you get out of it?" Lapis stared at her again. "Obviously one of the lifeforms found me and pulled me out." The other sent Lapis an annoyed look. "Well. Is there anything you want to share?" Lapis considered asking about the people she knew for a moment but realized that this gem wouldn't have a clue who they were. She was too young.

~~~~~~~~

"Greg, I don't know what's going on but you've been acting different. You know I won't freak out if it's something with the gems, right? I mean, if anything I'll be able to deal with it better than you. We both know how Amethyst can be." Greg was at Vidalia's. He'd been worrying about Lapis a lot lately and he thought she might be able to cheer him up. Vidalia was one of the few people that didn't blame him for Rose's death. At least out of those he actually spoke with. 

"I don't think you want to know about this one." Oops. "Ah so there's another gem?" Of course she noticed. Vidalia always acted like she didn't care a lot about anything but when it came down to it nobody paid more attention to what you had to say. "Come on Greg, now I want to know. Tell me the entire story.". Greg sighed. He knew that voice. This was going to take a while.


	18. Vidalia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg just told the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how to write Vidalia.
> 
> Also, chapters are short so I can at least show I'm alive in this busy time.

"So that's what happened to the ocean. She sounds like she's even harder to deal with than Amethyst." Greg sighed. "She's just confused by everything. If Pearl hadn't gone looking in my stuff she wouldn't have seen Lapis and Lapis wouldn't have snapped." "So you're saying this is Pearl's fault? Telling the gems wouldn't have helped?" She was right, but it was so frustrating. Yeah, telling the gems might have been smart. On the other hand it might have been incredibly dangerous. "Look, this seemed like the best way to deal with it at the time. You know the gems, and with more time it could have been different." He sighed. Nothing he could do now. Everything was up to Lapis.

~~~~~~~~

Waiting. Again. For a time that would be weeks on Earth. Months even. She didn't want to wait. Not again. She had no choice but to wait. There hadn't been a word from any gem about the questioning. There hadn't been anything at all. She heard footsteps. Maybe this time? No. Of course not, this is how it's been for the past months. Except the footsteps stopped in front of her room. Referring to it as a room rather than a cell made her feel slightly better.

She heard a voice. She looked up to see a gem. "You lied. Why?" So this one knew about the war. "Because she wasn't supposed to know, was she?" The other gem seemed amused. "No, she wasn't. So do you want to tell me the whole story?" And so she did. Almost. She left out Steven and the Crystal Gems. The other gem asked a few more questions about the Earth and whether there were gems left. Then she left again. It was back to waiting.


	19. A new job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis has a task to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so late, I had a password problem.

After what would be a few days on Earth, a new gem came. A Lapis Lazuli this time. She had a few rubies with her as her bodyguards. Did that mean they were letting her out? She hoped so. The Lapis Lazuli started explaining what it is Lapis Lazuli's do on Homeworld nowadays. She told our Lapis that she'd be let out if she would do the job without making trouble. The Lapis Lazuli would be guiding our Lapis through it and there'd be guards around until Homeworld could trust her. Our Lapis agreed, of course. It was a fairly standard job for Lapis Lazuli's to do apparently. The jobs had all changed.

~~~~~~~~

Time passed. It had been months since Lapis returned to Homeworld. But she didn't feel at home. Her home was gone. But she couldn't leave. They knew about her now. She didn't regret going here. It wasn't home, but at least it wasn't Earth. She did kind of miss Greg and Steven though. But it was best not to dwell on it. She would do her job. That was all there was to do nowadays. Due to resource shortages everyone had to do the most they could, as fast as they could. There was hardly time to think about other things.


	20. Growing up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been years and living arrangements are changing.

Greg drove the van up to the beach house. It was almost finished. Just had to get the interior done. By the end of the day everything was in place. The Gems put up a painting of Rose above the door and Steven walked into the house. Greg followed him. He wasn't comfortable with gem stuff, but damn it if he wasn't going to listen to the bit of advice Lapis gave him. He would be involved in his son's live, no matter what. The Gems had agreed that it would be easier for Steven like this. He made sure Steven had everything he needed, because God knows the Gems wouldn't be much good for that. They'd either not buy enough food or Amethyst would eat everything.

Greg was at work a lot while the Gems were in their rooms or on missions. Occasionally Steven would go over to the carwash or do something else in town. All in all, things were alright. It was dangerous every now and then, but Greg eventually got used to it.

Steven always loved bedtime stories. Every night he'd ask for one. Sometimes he wanted to hear specific stories. About a specific person. And every time Greg would ask him what he wanted to hear about. It was always either the whole story or just some small part about Lapis not understanding human things. The first time Greg ever told the story Steven asked "Dad, will I ever meet Lapis? She seems like she's a good person who could use some friends. Do you think I could be her friend?" Greg looked kind of sad at that. He knew Lapis could never return. But he smiled and nodded. "Sure you can, kiddo. She'd love to be your friend." A different time he asked what Lapis looked like. Greg remembered an album he'd made with Lapis on the cover. 'Queen of the sea'. That night he showed it and sung some songs to Steven.

In a different galaxy, Lapis was doing her job. Silently, following every rule and wishing she could be anywhere else. Even Earth would be fine. This was not the Homeworld she remembered. This would take many thousands of years before it would become anything resembling a home to her.


	21. Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Those damned Crystal Gems keep destroying Peridot's things.

"Lapis Lazuli, stop whatever you're doing and come with me." Oh no... Had she done something wrong? She searched her mind to figure out what it could be but she couldn't think of anything. She thought about it while following the gem. Eventually they stopped in front of a workspace with a Peridot. "Lapis Lazuli, you are to assist this Peridot in any way possible. She'll explain the mission to you, and remember, no troublemaking."

The gem left and the Peridot explained the mission. Earth. After all these years she'd be going back. While 14 years was a short time for Gems, it would be very long for little Steven and Greg. They probably didn't even remember or care anymore. Not that it mattered. It was just a small task. Take out the Crystal Gems, check on the cluster and return to Homeworld. She wouldn't even see them or hear from them. At least, she thought so. Until Peridot mentioned who had been destroying her stuff. A Garnet, an Amethyst, a Pearl and... Two other species? "One of them is called the Gregs and the other is the Stevens." Doing all she could to not give anything away, her mind immediately started thinking about all of the possibilities. Perhaps she would see them again.


	22. The return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Information and the return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being so slow, school has been incredibly busy.

"So according to this report you lied about there being any Gems. So to redeem yourself you're going to show us their base." She had no other choice than to agree. "Right." But her mind was racing again, she didn't want Greg or Steven to die. It had only been what would be 13 years or so on Earth. She still cared about them. A lot.

~~~~~~~~

"What was that?" "It sounds like it's coming from the temple." Greg stood up. "Then let's go look." When they arrived at the temple they saw it was the wailing stone. After trying to turn it off for a while Garnet suddenly had an idea. "Greg, do you think this might be a message? You could try to turn it into something we can understand." "Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll try." After some fiddling with the buttons and a sudden revelation that it could be video they finally saw the message. Steven looked confused until Greg whispered "Lapis..." After hearing the message Garnet broke the silence by saying "Good job Greg, that's a message received." Greg simply smiled at her in response.

~~~~~~~~

There was a ship in the sky. A green hand. Nothing the Gems tried actually worked on it. They were at a loss for what to do. "Greg, I think you should take Steven and go." Greg didn't want to leave the Gems alone though. "Garnet, think about how many times having me and Steven with you on a mission has saved you. Why do you think this time will be any different? I want to stay. If you want to ask Steven to leave, you should, as it's really not safe here but I'm staying." Garnet grabbed her shades and stared into the distance before asking "But how would he get to a safe place?" "I'm sure he can go with some people from this town if he wants to, but I doubt he'll go." "Then let's ask."

"Steven. You should get somewhere safe, this is too dangerous." "But Garnet, I have my mom's shield remember? I can use it on command now!" "I know, but none of us would forgive ourselves if something were to harm you." Steven hesitated a moment before saying "I'm not leaving you behind. I will stay here." Garnet sighed, the only way to get him to go was through tricking him, which Greg would not like. He wanted Steven to make his own choices, no matter how much they scared Greg. "Fine, but you and Greg will stand behind us."

And so they waited while the ship came closer and closer. Eventually it landed. A green ball appeared and rolled toward the end of the ship. The ball disappeared and 3 figured were standing there. Jasper pulled Lapis forward so she could look at the people standing in front of her. "Yeah, those 3 are the Crystal Gems, the other two are human, you don't have to hurt them." "I'll decide if I have to hurt them or not. Let's see, an overcooked runt, a defective Pearl and this shameless display. This isn't even worth my time. Just use the canon." Peridot looked annoyed at that but obeyed anyways. There was nothing the Gems could do. But then Steven jumped forward, yelling "I'm a Crystal Gem too!" and summoned a large shield. It protected them but really wore Steven out. Jasper suddenly panicked and told Peridot to fire a widespread barrage. She turned to Lapis and yelled "You knew about this!" before turning back to the Crystal Gems. She grabbed her gem destabilizer and attacked. Soon Steven and Greg were unconscious while the Gems were poofed. They were locked up on the ship and so was Lapis. Jasper told her "And now you're going to tell us everything, right from that cell. We'll see what to do with you back on Homeworld."


	23. Jailbreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A slightly different jailbreak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm so slow, there was a lot of family stuff going on. Also I wasn't sure where to go with dialogue multiple times.

And so Lapis told everything, and then Jasper and Peridot left her. Sitting in a cell, probably in a lot of trouble.

Somewhere else Steven figured out that the yellow field didn't harm him, Greg was in a cell next to him, so Steven woke him up. Together they started looking for the Gems. The first one they found was Ruby, while Steven was confused Greg immediately said "Ruby! They split you two up? Do you know where Sapphire is?" While moving to block the destabilizer field. Steven looked from Greg to Ruby "Wait, there are more Gems? Why don't I know you?" "We've got to find Sapphire!" "Uhm... Steven, meet Ruby, she's half of Garnet." Steven looked at Ruby, who was panicking, in wonder. "Garnet's a fusion!?" Ruby looked impatient. "Yes and we have to find Sapphire! I can hear her singing. Let's go!"

The three of them ran towards the sound together and found a blue gem. It wasn't Sapphire though. "Lapis! Are you okay?" "Greg?" Greg rushed over to the yellow barrier, Steven following closely behind. Ruby said "Oh great, I don't have time for this! I have to find Sapphire!" and ran off.

"Wow, so you're Lapis! This is amazing! Well the abduction part isn't but still!" Lapis looked confused "wait... You're Steven right? They mentioned Greg and Steven, but you've changed so much since the last time I saw you." "Well yeah... That was a really long time ago. But we don't have time to talk about this now, we need to find everyone else and get back home!" Lapis looked sad at that. "Home... Good luck." Greg didn't like the way she said that. "You're coming with us!" "I... I can't." Steven responded "But why not?" "I'm sorry but while I don't like the way things are at Homeworld, I can't live on the Earth either." Steven looked around and sighed. Greg decided to try one more time "On Earth you can choose what to do, if you're not happy on Homeworld this might be your only chance to change things. So please, Lapis, come with us." As he said the last part he extended his arm through the yellow barrier. Lapis hesitated for a moment before taking it and standing up. Greg used his other arm to block the destabilizing field as Lapis walked through. Once she was on the other side she let go of Greg's hand. "Alright then, let's not get caught, or I'll definitely regret this."

Together they followed the sound of Sapphire's singing, when they found her she seemed surprised. "Lapis, the odds I would see you here were very low, but I'm glad you're not out enemy this time." Greg walked to the yellow barrier and made a path for Sapphire. Somehow Sapphire managed to pull all three of them along towards the room where she'd find Ruby. They fused again and Garnet appeared. "It's so good to be back!" "Garnet! You didn't tell me you were a fusion!" "Oh Steven, we were waiting for your birthday." "So... Did I make a good first impression?" Garnet's expression became soft, "We already love you." Then she kissed his forehead, showing him where to find Amethyst and Pearl. "Now go find them, I'll handle Jasper." Steven and Greg looked determined while Lapis raised An eybrow at Garnet not specifying who "them" are. 

The three of them ran off, Steven was leading the way. At the same time Garnet and Jasper started fighting. Steven, Greg and Lapis found Amethyst and Pearl and then ran towards Peridot, who was in the control room, together. Lapis hung back, as she'd prefer nobody from Homeworld had any way of finding out she'd willingly gone with the rebels and traitors. Then the ship shook from Garnet throwing Jasper into the core of the ship, giving Peridot a chance to escape. 

As the escape pod flew towards the Earth, Garnet and Lapis entered the room. "The ship is going down!" Steven made a bubble big enough for everyone. They crashed onto the beach. Suddenly Jasper appeared from under the debris, and seeing how outnumbered she was, she started running. Everyone was too tired to go after her and instead Just collapsed onto the ground. As everyone sat there thinking about the unlikely victory, Lapis was thinking about how she wouldn't see her Home ever again. But maybe making a new one for herself would be easier here on Earth with Steven and Greg than it would have been back on Homeworld. She hoped so at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's the end of the story, if for whatever reason you want me to write something you can send me a prompt on my Tumblr, Aknolan-writes. I know, it's very creative.
> 
> I might make a follow-up story with differences in Peridot's arc and the cluster arc because of Jasper being around and more stuff like that, but if I do it won't be very soon.


End file.
